Mowing-machine.



E. C. SMITH.

MOWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31. 1912.

1,146,967. Patented July 20, 1915.

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E. 0. SMITH. MOWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 31, 1912.

1,146,967. Patented July 20, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- coummm PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON, n. c.

E. C. SMITH.

MOWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 3!. 1912.

1,146,967. Patented July 20, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

milling...

- brought .into the path pm'rnn srarns rarnnr cartons ERNEST C. SMITH,0F PEORIA, ILLINOIS, ASSIG'NOR T0 ACME HARVESTING MACHINE 00., 0FPEORIA, ILLINOIS,- A CORPORATION OF WEST VIRGINIA.

lacunae-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Fatent.

Patented July so, was.

Application filed October 31, 1912. Serial No. 728,908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNEST G. SMITH, citizen of the United States,residing at Peoria, in the county of Peoria and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines and I dohereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has reference to improvements in mowing machines.

One of the important objeots'of the invention is to provide a systemoff-leverages for lifting the finger bar with the least amount ofeflortthrough a primary and a secondary lever.

- The object of a secondary lever movement to complete the extremeraising movement of the finger bar in a mower is thatwhen said fingerbar is given its full upward swing, or the movement from a horizontal toa substantially vertical position by one movement or sweep of a singlelever, the weight imposed upon said lever is so great as to make theoperation an extremely diflicult one for the operator.

Another important object, also, asdistinguished from other liftingmechanisms for mowers, is to provide a more simple structure in aprimary lever for imparting the initial lifting movement to the fingerbar, and provide a more simple structure in a secondary lever, spacingthe axes of the levers from one another in order that the parts of onelever will move ecoentrically to those of the other lever and in doingso be of movement of one another.

Still another object, as distinguished from the structures of othermowers, isto provide means by which the finger bar will be caused to bepositively carried down to its position for work so that the sickle willbe practically in line with the drivingpitman before the clutchmechanism of the mower is following specification and the claims aidedby the accompanying drawings, in which,

' Figure 1 is a plan of the mower. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of thesame. Fig. 3 is an elevatiomin detail, of lifting mechanism for raisingthe finger bar. Fig. 4 shows in perspective-a portion of a push-bar usedas an alining bar for the finger bar, showing its connection with themower frame. Fig. 5 is an elevation of a clutch portion and a latch.Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a primary and a secondary lever andcertain parts connected therewith; all being shown on a much largerscale than in Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a similar view showing the parts inaltered positions. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of a bracket or supportfor a secondary lever. Fig. 9 shows parts of a primary and secondarylever with portions of both broken away.

A indicates the frame of the mower and B the ground wheels or drivingwheels.

C is the seat, D the tongue, E the finger bar, and F the sickle operatedby the usual pitman G. 7

Motion is imparted to the pitman in the usual way through a shaft Hcarrying a bevel pinion J. In mesh with the pinion is a bevel gear K ona shaft L mounted at the rear side of the mower frame. rotation beingimparted through a pinion M on said shaft and a gear N operated from oneof the ground wheels as is customary.

The hub O of the bevel gear K is made to constitute a clutch portion anda clutch portion P is slidable upon the shaft L and adapted to engagesaid portion 0. The

clutch part P rotates with the shaft L the gear K being idle but whenthe clutch parts are in engagement rotation is imparted to the pinion J.

, Slidably carried in a part of the frame A, Fig. 5, is a clutchshifting member Q, having a part B to engage the said clutch part P andshift that member. Pivoted to the outer end of th'e member Q is a latchS which normally hangsdownward as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 5when the clutch parts are in engagement. However, when it is desired topermanently disengage the clutch the part P is shifted away from thepart O by the foot lever for example and the latch isplaced in theposition shown in full lines in said Fig. 5, one endbearing against theframe part A as shown in said Fig. 5.

Upon a part of the mower frame forward of the shaft L a cam T is mountedin suitable manner which engages a notch V in the member Q described andthrough which the clutch is operated by a movement of a foot lever U, orautomatically through parts to be described, when the finger bar israised.

The means through which to automatically disengage the clutch parts willnow be described. Depending from the cam is an arm 4), Figs. 2 and 5, towhich is pivoted at one end of a rod. V extending forward from said armand preferably threaded at its forward end. J ournaled beneath the axleof the mower in any good manner is a rock shaft V one end having adepending arm V to which is pivoted a threaded sleeve V to receive thethreaded end of the rod V and in which the latter is adjustable. Nearits other end the shaft V carries a depending arm V the free end havinga part to extend through a slot WV in a rod W which rod extends forwardand upward and has pivotal attachment to an extension WV? on a part of ahand lever to be described later, the slot being provided in order thatthe foot lever U may be operated independently of the other parts.Depending from the rock shaft, also, is an arm W shown in dotted linesin Figs. 1 and 6, to which is attached one end of a spring W the otherend of which is attached to any suitable part of the frame as, forinstance, an arm W Fig. 1. The tendency of the spring at all times is tohold the clutch portions 0 P in engagement.

The finger bar E is secured on the usual inner shoe W pivotally carriedon a yoke 2. To said yoke is connected the drag-bar 3 and a push-bar &both of which have pivotal connection with the mower frame andadjustable in a manner to be described herein, and constituting whatwill be termed a coupling frame.

Mounted on the tongue D is a cast bracket 5 (Fig. 8) includingan ear 6to secure it to the side of said tongue and including, also, a part 7to'secure it to the top of that member. This bracket is provided with acircular flange 8 extending outward from its side and lying in avertical plane and constituting a support and bearing for a hand lever,previously referred to, indicated at 9. The part of said lever 9supported on the flange 8 is indicated clearly at 10 in Fig. 9. Thisconsists preferably of a casting provided with a circular opening 11 toreceive the said flange 8 and included with said casting is the lugpreviously referred to carrying the rod WV. The part 10 also includes alug 12 the purpose of which will appear later herein.

The bracket 5 besides including the flange 8 has a stud 13 extendingoutward therefrom at its side and. spaced on a horizontal line forwardof the point from which the circular flange 8 is described. Preferablyalso there is a threaded hole 14 in the casting to receive a set screw14 by which the casting 10 is held in place upon the flange by means ofa depending car 15, Fig. 6,

but this is a mere detail and other means may be substituted for it. Butit allowsthe casting 10 to freely rock on the flange but prevents itslipping off. Mounted upon the stud 13 is a casting 16 forming a part ofa foot lever 17.

This casting 16 comprises a part extend. ing forward from the pivotformed by the stud and a part extending rearward therefrom. The latterpart carries the foot lever 17 referred to consisting of a bar having aright angle extension 18 extending through it and adapted to pivot inthe hole that receives it. The rear end of the lever is bent to providea C01 venient rest for the foot of the operator by which the said footlever can be actuated.

Pivotally suspended from the forward end of the casting 16 is a link 19shown in full in Figs. 2 and 3. Attached to the lower end of the link isa chain '20. Uprising from the shoe W is a pair of extensions 2 andbetween them is pivoted an arm 21, which, when the finger bar lies inits posi tion for work, bears against a stop 22 of said extensions 2.The upper end of the arm is bifurcated and has a stop portion 23 uponwhich bears a second arm 24 pivoted between the bifurcations, the otherend of the arm 24 having the chain 20 attached to it, Fig. 3. i

Uprising from-the coupling into which the drag and push bars 3 and arespectively are connected is an arm 25 carrying a roller 26 beneathwhich the said chain 20 extends. Pivoted on the arm 25, for instance atthe axis of the roller 26, is a member or link 27 through the outer endof which the chain 20 extends. This link 27 of itself is not new but inconjunction with the arms 21 and 24, previouslv described, provides apeculiarly effective means for lifting the outer end of the finger barand for letting it drop into places lower than the level upon which themower is working but this is old and well known tov those familiar withmowing machinery.

It is observed thatsincethe arm21 rests against the stop 22 of the shoeW and that the arm 24: bears against the stop portion 23 of the arm 21 apractically rigid arm is formed from the point of connection of thechain 20 with the arm 24: down to the point where the shoe is pivoted tothe yoke 2. This rigid arm made up of the several members describedconstitutes a long lever which extends well above the pivot of the shoeon the yoke 2 lying practically at right angles to the finger bar bywhich the weight of the latter can be readily lifted. It is clear,however, that a direct lift through the foot lever 17 and the link 19would lift the yoke 2 and the shoe from the ground from the fact thatthe pull would be substantially at right angles to the direction fromwhich the bars 3 and 4t extend from their points of pivotal connectionwith the mower frame.

Attention is now directed to the detailed construction of the hand lever9 before referred to, and also to the separate as well as the jointactions of the foot and handlevers. In dotted lines in several of thefigures, two ribs are shown at 28 and 29 as parts of the foot levercasting 16. These are above the position of the stud 13 on which thatcasting rocks and extend from the inner side of the same, the rib 28being somewhat shorter than the rib 29. In addition, the casting has arib 30, Fig. 7, rearward from the ribs mentioned and which lies in thesame plane therewith. In lifting the outer end of the finger bar toraise it over a stump or other ObSt1'L1CtlO11,tl1 foot lever 17 isdepressed and carried to the position shown in Fig. 7. In this figurethe said foot lever has been carried down as far as the mower axle whichis suificient to lift the outer.

end of the foot lever casting 16 and its link 19 to a proper height tolift the said finger bar as high as necessary. This action resultswithout disengaging the clutch portions since the operating parts forthe'latter are not in any way connected with said lever and the heightto which the finger bar is raised is not sufficient to require thedisengagement for safety to the driving pitman. After the obstructionhas been passed the foot lever is released and the finger bar descendsto the ground by gravity. 1f desired, however, this same extent of liftcan be accomplished by means of the hand lever 9 whose lug 12 in therearward movement of the lever will meet the rib 30, Fig. 6. The use ofthe hand lever in this way causes the disengagement of the clutchportions since the lug W of the said hand lever in moving forward andupward will rock the shaft V and accomplish the disengagement referredto. This is desirable when it is the wish to move some distance throughthe field to some new cutting point, for example, and

when it is not wholly necessary to raise the cutter bar to its fullheight and where it is safer to persons in the field to have the saidsickle remain at rest, and to reduce the draft. When it is the desire toraise the finger bar to its vertical or highest position after theclutch parts have been separated the foot lever 17 is depressed, asbefore, bringing the casting 16 to the position shown in full lines inFig. 7. Now, the hand lever 9,

6 which has remained in its vertical position,

is moved rearwardly to complete the raising movement and just here it isto be observed by referring to Fig. 6 that the rib 29 lies forward ofand entirely out of the range of movement of the lug 12 of the handlever as that member swings about its axis. But when the foot levercasting 16 having said rib 29 is raised to the position just describedsaid rib 29 is brought into the path of said lug from the fact that theaxis of the hand lever is spaced rearwardly from the axis about whichthe casting 16 moves, 2'. e. the stud 13. Therefore, said lug 12 willmeet the rib 29 and as the hand lever moves rearwardly and is carried toa horizontal position, as shown by broken lines at the left of Fig. 7,the casting 16 must be raised to its highest point as indicated bybroken lines in the figure referred to.

During this entire operation the foot lever has first raised the outerend of the finger bar through the link 27 and the arms 21 and 24:.Following this movement the shoe and the coupling frame are raised untilthe push bar 4, meets some portion of the frame of the mower as, forexample, a stop X, Figs. 2 and 6. The coupling frame having been limitedby said stop the continued upward movement of the foot lever now bringsthe cutter bar to its vertical or highest position.

The hand lever 9 is provided with any usual latch mechanism 31 indicatedin broken lines in Figs. 2, 6 and 7. In the forward position of saidlever 9 said latch 31 engages a tooth 32 of the casting 5 preventingsaid lever 9 from moving farther forward. Since the latter standsslightly forward of the vertical position gravity assists in retainingit in its upright position together with the friction existing betweensaid latch and the casting 5.

The shoe W is prevented from dropping too far into low places throughcontact of the rib 30 of the casting 16 with the lug 12 of said handlever and the tooth 32 against which the latch 31 lies. When the handlever is acting to sustain the casting 10 in its highest position itslatch engages beneath a tooth 33 of said casting 5; see Figs. 7 and8.

A point of considerable importance and an advantage that I consider newin mower structures is that of the ability of the h and lever to providefor the positive return of the finger bar to its cutting position. Thisis a requirement when making use of the usual lifting spring indicatedat 3 which as in Fig. 1 is attached at its forward end to the tongue D,its rear end having connec tion with a link 35 pivoted to the casting 16at substantially the point 36. When the finger bar lies upon the groundin position for work the spring cannot exert its greatest pull from thefact that, as shown in Fig. 2

for example, its line of pull lies close to the axis of the footlever,the stud, where it cannot act upon said lever. In raising thelatter to lift the finger bar, however, as already described herein, thepoint of connection of,

the link 35 with the lever at the point 36 is carried downward. fartherand farther away from the pivot of said foot lever giving the spring anever increasing leverage to assist the operator in the lifting movement.However, when the finger bar and the other portions of the apparatus arebeing lon ered the tension of the spring works against the operator andmust be overcome and this is accomplished by causing the casting 16 tobe positively forced downward. Therefore, in raising thehand lever fromthe horizontal position shown in Fig. 7 the lug 12 is brought againstthe rib 28 and a continued forward movement pushes the casting forwardand downwardoperating against the pullof the spring until the point 36of the link is carried near enough to the pivot of the casting 16 sothat the weight of the cutter bar and coupling frame can now completethe downward movement by gravity,

their weight being now greater than the pull exerted thereon by thespring. In some mower structures it often happens that the pull of thelifting spring is too great, the exact adjustment of the same beingdifficult to find and maintain and the operator has no control of it norof the finger bar in its return to the ground. The latter is thus leftto itself and must often be grasped and thrown down by hand but beforethis is done the clutch is often thrown into engagement resulting indamage to the pitman and other parts. vide means for eliminating thesedifficulties. In lowering the foot lever through the hand lever thefinger bar first moves outward from the vertical position, then thecoupling frame drops to the ground and the finger bar falls at its outerend, the operation being directly the ret erse of that described as tothe raising movement, and only after the finger bar has reached a safeposition for operation through the pitman can the clutch take hold, thetiming being such that the hand lever having control of the clutch musttravel a definite distance before the clutch takes hold and in thatdistance the sickle has arrived at a safe position for operation.

I now desire to draw attention to the simple manner of and means fortiming the sickle and alining the finger bar. The drag bar 3 by whichthe timing is done is pivotally hung in a plate 37 provided with slots38 and adjustable on an arm 39 of the frame A through bolts 40. Said baris held in any suitable manner in said plate and by looseningv the boltsthe plate and the bar can be shifted in the direction of the yoke 2 toac complish the desired timing adjustment.

It is my purpose, therefore, to pro- In alining the finger-bar the pushbar 4: described is adjustable through screw threads in the coupling ofthe yoke 52. Its other end is pivoted on a bolt 41 extending through itand a pair of lugs 42 depending from the axle of the mower, see Fig. 4.After withdrawing the bolt the bar is ro tated to the desired extenttobring the finger bar into alinement with the pitman G whereupon the saidbolt &l is replaced in the described parts.

In order to furnish a stronger mower frame I connect that part of saidframe carrying the shaft H with the part to which the tongue D isattached, by means of a bar One end is secured to the arm 39 of theframe by the bolts 40 that securethe plate 37 upon said arm and theother end is secured to a lug 4a cast with the part to which said tongueis secured, see Figs. 6 and 7. This results in a lighter frame than ispossible when the frame is cast in a rectangular form as done by somemakers and said frame is stronger and requires less work than in castingit and no machine work is needed since the bolt holes in the cast frameare cored out.

The. clutch operating means described herein is found to operate in anabsolutely positive manner and is believed to be novel" a second leverhaving a part to engage the first, the axes of the two levers lyingeccentric to one another.

3. In a mowing machine, the combination of a coupling frame, including afinger bar, a lifting lever including an extension, means connectedbetween the lever and the frame, a second lever having the axis of itspivotal movement disposed eccentrically tothat of the first said lever,and having a part to engage the extension of said first lever.

4. In a mowing machine, the combination with a finger-bar and a raisablepart to carry it, of a lifting lever including an extension, meansconnected between the lever and said part for raising the latter, and asecond lever having its axis disposed eccentrically to the axis of thefirst said lever and including a part to engage the extension of saidfirst lever, the latter in its movement carrying its extension into thepath of the'part carried by the said second lever.

5 In a mowing machine, the combination with a part to be liftedincluding a fingerbar, of a lever to lift said part and including anextension, mechanism connecting the lever and the said part, a secondlever having its axis of movement eccentric to that of the first saidlever and including an extension to engage that of the first said leverand normally removed from the path of movement of the same, themovements of the levers to lift the part causing their extensions to bebrought into the path of one another.

6. In a mowing machine, the combination with a coupling frame and afinger bar, of a lever-mechanism connected to the same for initiallyraising it and including an exten sion on the lever, and a second leverhaving its axis of movement substantially parallel to and spaced fromthat of the first, said second lever likewise including an extensionadapted to engage the extension of the first said lever.

7 In a mowing machine, the combination with a coupling frame and afinger bar, of a lever to impart an initial raising movement thereto,mechanism connecting the lever and frame, said le er including a pair ofextensions, a second lever mounted parallel to the first lever, its axisof movement being substantially parallel to and spaced from that of thefirst lever, said second lever including a part to enter between theextensions of said first lever.

S. In a mowing machine, the combination with a coupling frame andafinger bar, of a lever to impart an initial raising movement to it,mechanism connecting the lever and frame for assisting insaid raisingmovement, a second lever lying substantially par 9. In a mowing machine,the combination of a coupling frame and a finger bar, a foot lever,means connecting the lever and the frame, a second lever movablesubstantially parallel to the first, its axis of movement being parallelto the axis of the foot lever and spaced from it, an extension on thefoot lever, a part on the said second lever to engage said extension formoving the foot lever in one direction, and a second extension on thelatter engaged by the said part to move said foot lever in the otherdirection.

10. In a mowing machine, a coupling frame and a finger bar, a lever andmeans connecting it with the frame, a second lever movable parallel tothe first lever, its axis of movement being parallel to the axis of thelatter and spaced from it, an extension on the said first lever, a' parton the second lever to engage said extension when the latter has reacheda predetermined position, and a second extension on the first lever inposition to be engaged by said part.

11. In a mowing machine, the combination with its main frame. and acoupling frame and a finger bar, of a lever and means connecting it andthe coupling frame, a spring connected between the lever and part of themain frame adapted to support a portion of the weight of said couplingframe, a second lever movable parallel to the first lever and having itsaxis of movement parallel to and spaced. rearward from the axis of thesame, an extension on the latter, a part on the second lever adaptedwhen the latter is moved to be brought into the path of movement of andto engage said extension when the first named lever has been raised to apredetermined height, and a second extension on the first named leveralso engaged by said part for returning the last named lever to its initial position.

12. In a mower, the combination with a finger bar, of a pair ofassociated levers adapted to move in parallel planes and having theiraxes substantially parallel to and spaced from one another, meansconnected between one of the levers and said finger bar for lifting thelatter, a part extending from one of the levers, and an extension on theother of the levers engaged by said part when moved to a predeterminedposition in the raising movement of said finger bar.

13. A coupling frame and finger bar, a pair of levers movable insubstantially parallel planes, their axes of movement being spaced fromone another, means carried by one of the levers engaging the couplingframe and finger bar for lifting them, a part extending from the otherlever and an extension on the first named lever engaged by said partwhen the said first named lever has reached a predetermined position inits raising movement.

14. The combination with a coupling frame, a finger bar pivotedrelatively to it and an extension uprising from the former, of an armpivoted relatively to the fingerbar, means to limit the pivotal movementof the arm relative to said finger bar, an arm pivoted to the first saidarm, there being a. part on one of the arms to limit the move ment ofthe two arms relatively, and a flexible member attached to the seconddescribed arm and extending through the said extension of the frame.

15. The combination in a mowing ma chine, of a coupling frame includinga shoe carried by and pivoted relatively thereto and an extensionuprising from the outer end of said frame, and a finger bar, an armpivoted at one end to the shoe, means to limit the movement of the armrelatively to the latter in one direction of its movement, a second armpivoted at one end to the free mower, of a finger-bar pivoted relativelyto it, an extension uprising from the frame, a jointed arm pivotedrelatively to the fingerbar, means stationed at the joint of the arm andmeans on the finger-bar adjacent to the pivot about which the finger-barswings for I limiting the movement of the parts of the arm relativelyand relative to said fingerbar, a flexible member attached to the armand carried by the extension on the frame, and means to draw the saidflexible member through the extension to lift the finger-bar.

17. A mower including in its construction a main frame, a coupling frameand a fingerbar, a casting secured on the main frame including acylindrical extension and a stud extending from it eccentric to thecylindrical surface of said extension, a lever mounted between its endson said stud, mechanism connecting the lever and the coupling frame, anextension on the lever, a second lever mounted upon the cylindricalextension as the support upon which it turns, and a part carried by thesaid second lever to engage the extension of the first said lever.

18. A mower including in its construction a main frame, a coupling frameand a finger bar, a casting secured on the main frame including acylindrical extension and a stud extending from it eccentric to thecylindrical surface of said extension, a lever mounted between its endson said stud, mechanism connecting the lever and the coupling frame, apair of extensions on the lever, a second connecting the lever with thecoupling frame and the finger bar, an extension carried by the lever,and a second lever having a part to engage the'extension, the paths ofmovement of the extension and the part on their respective levers beingdescribed from difierent centers and adapted to merge in the movement ofsaid levers to cause the part and said extension to be broughtintoengagement whereby one of the levers will carry the other to itsextreme of travel.

20. In a mowing machine, the combination with a frame, a finger-bar, anda shoe pivoted relatively to it, of a lever to impart an initial raisingmovement to the fingerbar, means connecting the lever and the shoe forlifting the finger-bar by means of the former, said lever including twoextensions, a second lever having its axis of move-.

ment parallel to that of the first lever and spaced rearward therefromand including an extension to enter the path of the extension of thesaid first lever and engage one of )them to complete the raisingmovement of the finger-bar, said extension of said second lever engagingthe other of the extensions to assist in returning the parts to theirposition for operation.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

ERNEST C. SMITH.

WVitnesses .ELsm WILKINSON,

L. O. EAGLETON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). 0.?

